Type of Graduate Degree

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by lyrelyre

I am contemplating going back to school for a master's degree and possibly a doctorate. I am thinking in the area of education. Specifically, I would like to be a professor of educational methods or foundations. I have done a search and not found a discussion of the types of degrees.

I have noticed that many schools have both a traditional MS or MA and PhD in different areas of education. Additionally, I have seen the MEd and EdD.

My question is this: Which is better? Is one better than the other? Does it depend what you want to do? Who should I ask?

I don't know if I can make an appointment to talk to an advisor at a school I don't attend or plan on attending.

Any advice is appreciated.

I advise you to contact the specific MS, MA, PhD, MED and EdD programs to find out their different requirements from which to make comparisons. GC responses will be oversimplified and partially accurate.

Generally speaking, this http://www.alleducationschools.com/f...-education.php often distinguishes an EdD from a PhD.

It is sometimes the case that EdD and PhD programs only differ in the prestige associated with "PhD." There are a couple of programs that I can think of whose students were unhappy with being EdD recipients so they urged the department to switch to a PhD. This sometimes required little more than a change in title. In another case, the program had to add an additional graduation requirement because students expressed a desire to become researchers/professors versus becoming teachers/administrators/other type of practitioner. Some programs are considering moving to a strict PhD title and offering 2tracks because of this. More flexibility.